– Leo was extremely good again. We have to praise him a little too, in all the Haaland hysteria. This is what national team captain Martin Ødegaard says after the strong 2-1 victory against Sweden at Friends Arena. Everyone talked about Haaland, but Ødegaard thinks the recent 22-year-old, who has only played three international matches, deserves a lot of praise. – Leo makes a good match again, all credit to him, says Ødegaard. Andreas Hanche-Olsen, who has lost his place next to Stefan Strandberg to Østigård, also praises the short-cut stopper boat. – Two big matches by Leo this week, it’s incredibly cool to watch. He and Stefan have cleared away what has been. Two enormous achievements, I hope we continue like that, says Hanche-Olsen to news. Against Sweden, we again saw an Østigård that goes to work totally fearless. At first, when a ball was on its way out after a set piece, suddenly the 22-year-old came like a rocket with a heroic attempt to plunge the ball towards goal. A situation descriptive of the type of player he has become. “Gets happy with the way Østigård goes into head duels,” football expert Christian Gauseth wrote on Twitter during the match on Sunday. Photo: Screenshot 05.06.2022 / Twitter National team manager Ståle Solbakken has at times been skeptical about using Østigård, but has given the youngster confidence in this collection. Solbakken sees a development there. – Leo has his great strength in the duel game and in the boxing game. He has gotten better with the ball and he can play on the left because he has a usable left leg. But he must be protected, we will not have him or Stefan Strandberg out for a run against Alexander Isak. Then we have to play a type of defensive game that makes him and Stefan avoid those runs. But that he has taken some steps, there is no doubt about that, says Solbakken at the press conference after the match. – In the field, and when it comes to reading the game, he has taken enormous steps, he adds. – Has he solved the midfielder problem for Norway? – Now I have not talked about any midfielder problem. What it has been about for us is that there are very few who have played at a high level. But for a fairly long period now we have conceded few goals, we have to continue with that, says Solbakken. SACRIFICE EVERYTHING: Leo Østgård has an ability to appear between the ball and where the dangers are. Photo: JOEL MARKLUND / BILDBYRÅN The setback goal in overtime against Sweden is the only goal Norway has conceded in the last four international matches. Østigård himself is cursed that they allowed to mess up the donut all defenders and goalkeepers are so happy about. – It irritates me that they get a goal at the end, says the 22-year-old to news after the match. In any case, he is very pleased with the 2-1 victory over Sweden and the second game in a row with a very strong away game. – It was fantastic, and it was time to beat Sweden. It’s something you dream of as a little boy. We were very excited to beat them, so it is extremely good that we managed it, he says to news. GOOD COOK: The Norwegian supporters were strong in Stockholm. Photo: JOEL MARKLUND / BILDBYRÅN Norway now tops the national league group with six points after two games. Sweden and Serbia, who meet on Thursday, have three points each. – How is the mood in the team? – I think everyone sees that. It is a group that is very united, we have very good unity. It’s one of the best teams I’ve been on. It is fantastic and deserved that we get a victory here now, says Østigård. Erling Braut Haaland, Norway’s match winner against Sweden, disappeared out of the back door from Friends Arena without giving interviews to anyone other than the licensee TV 2. But to NFF’s own website, he took the trouble to say a few words. – We have something going on. We become more experienced and more one gang for each match that goes. It is fantastic to see how we fight together and how we manage to win football matches, says Halaand. He has now scored an incredible 18 goals in 19 A-national matches. Now Haaland hopes Norwegians will buy tickets to support the national team in the next two matches in the National League against Slovenia already on June 9 and Sweden on June 12. – Now it’s time to fill Ullevaal. Come to the match, we will win against Slovenia, says Haaland. – We hope as many as possible come to Slovenia, and then we know that it is full against Sweden. We hope to see a full Ullevaal on Thursday as well, then we will try to deliver, says national team captain Ødegaard to news. Norway will now be big favorites against Slovenia, who have lost their first two matches in the National League so far. On Sunday, it was a 1-4 loss against Serbia. Leo Østigård is looking forward to two home games in a row. – There will be two tough settlements. Now we have had two away games, so it will be good to play at home. It’s just working on further, we are not done. We will be hard to beat at home, he says.
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– In all the Haaland hysteria we have to pay tribute to him a little – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
